U19 Asia Cup: Afghanistan overcoming Sri Lanka by three wickets

Afghanistan under 19s created the major upset of the opening day of Under-19s Asia Cup 2013/14 when they handed the Sri Lanka under 19s team a shock defeat of 3 wickets in their group B encounter played at Sheikh Zayed Stadium Nursery 2, Abu Dhabi.

Batting first, Sri Lanka got off to a steady start with openers Hashan Dumindu (61) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (31) putting on a 64-run stand, but Sri Lanka lost its way after that, with the middle-order not coming good. Priyamal Perera’s unbeaten 47 from No.6 took the side to 191 for 9, with Zia-ur-Rehman taking 5 for 33.

Afghanistan’s reply began well, with Shahidullah and Abdur Mangal putting on 63 for the opening wicket, but three quick strikes reduced the side to 78 for 3. A 48-run stand for the fourth wicket between Muslim Musa and Younas Ahmadzai put the chase back on track, before another flurry of wickets reduced Afghanistan to 165 for 7 after 44 overs. However, Nasir Ahmadzai, the captain, scored an unbeaten 28 and Sharafuddin Ashraf contributed a cameo 15 off 8 balls as Afghanistan got home with 15 balls to spare.